Part of what we do as consultants is help people from the ground up with software. Nothing is more ubiquitous than Outlook but it is also probably the least well utilised.
Below I’ve disassembled how I setup my Outlook view of my mail. This layout helps me get the most bang for my buck on a 24inch display and helps me organise myself.
There is a logical progression, left to right of: start > email comes in on the left and it is followed through its lifecycle as I flag, reply, familiarise, track tasks against it and schedule my time > end.
It is the result of quite a lot of experimentation but ultimately is my own preference. Feel free to submit your own in the comments :-).
Click on the picture for a bigger view
Zone 1
- Inbox with threaded conversations turned on
- Columns: Subject | From | Received | Flag
Zone 2.a
- email reading pane for me to compose emails, view attachments and app integration
Zone 2.b
- Social integration with linkedin and other previous interactions with that person
Zone 3.a
- Task management which are aggregated from Exchange, SharePoint online, flagged email items
Zone 3.b
- Mini-calendar and agenda
Ribbon
- Collapsed
Folder Navigation
- Collapsed